Turmoil
by BabyBird
Summary: When Ryoko finally tires of her poor treatment she receives daily from the hands of her beloved, how will she deal with it? (not a romance)*chapter 2 added*
1. Default Chapter

It was a hot day. The kind of heat that made the air feel thick, and made the wind stop breathing altogether.  
  
But, this was fine with Ryoko, she enjoyed the increased temperatures. It reminded her of lying on soft carpet in front of a large window, taking all of the sun's rays for herself. It was this incredible heat that had made Ryoko unsatisfied to sit in the house. She sat up in her rafter, thinking of what there was to do outside.  
  
Of course, there were many things she distracted herself with out of doors, but she wanted to do something *new*, something fun, something....something with people. She smiled to herself, she was rarely a social person, but today was different. She sat up, realising what she wanted to do with the day. Today was a day for shopping.  
  
It hadn't taken long to get the rest of her boardmates to agree with her. The household needed a few items, and individually, they all lit up at the idea of a few gratuitous personal things.  
  
So, in less than two hours time, the whole clan found themselves in bustling, crowded, and busy downtown. After a few minutes with the group, Ryoko decided she wanted to set out on her own, lose herself in the crowds of strangers.  
  
"Ryoko-" Tenchi began in that oh-so-familiar nagging tone, "where do you think you're going off to?"  
  
With her back turned to him, Ryoko rolled her eyes before turning to face her self-imposed babysitter. "I'm just going to visit a few shops, Tenchi," she replied irritably, "I am a grown woman, after all, I can take care of myself, you know."  
  
The young man was stunned by Ryoko's words as much as her tone. She couldn't have surprised him more if she had just blown up the entire shopping centre. In fact, that would probably be less unexpected.  
  
The amber eyed demon didn't mean anything malicious in her words, she simply wanted some time away from her adopted family. And at that particular moment, it annoyed her terribly to think that her Tenchi felt he had to keep such a close eye on her. As though she was apt to go on some spree of distruction. Didn't they know all the changes that had taken place inside her? It was as though her painful transformation had never even happened, as though she hadn't parted herself from her old life, knowing all that she was giving up. It meant so much to her, and, it appeared, so little to them.  
  
None of this appeared on her face, however. Only slightly aggravated frustration.  
  
Tenchi, getting over his shock at Ryoko's willingness, even more so, her desire, to leave him behind, frowned. "Ryoko, I don't trust you by yourself in a *market place*!" He said it as though it shouldn't have even been a question. As though it went without saying that Ryoko couldn't possibly be left alone when the opportunity to steal something or hurt someone was so abundant.  
  
He had thought carefully about what to say before he said it. Ryoko's words had hurt him deeply, even though neither of them realised it. And subconsciously, Tenchi's harsh reply was in retaliation.  
  
As the words "I don't trust you..." settled on the former space pirates ears, hurt was not what they elicited. Only anger. And spite.  
  
"Well, it's not like you have a choice, Tenchi! I'm not your slave. I may have be imprisoned here on earth, but that does not make you my master!"  
  
They hurt. Ryoko's words cut like a sword. They tore at his heart, and rended his spirit. She could see the pain in his eyes the moment she spat the angry, venomous statement.  
  
The others, who had been only half listening until now, stood by cautious, eyes widening at Ryoko's very unexpected declaration.  
  
"Ryoko..." Tenchi croaked, trying to convey the pain she had caused through that one word. Ryoko sneered at him. She heard it, but she didn't care. She meant every word she said.  
  
The cyan haired woman made a noise of disgust before teleporting away. 


	2. Pirate Princess

She found herself in a liquor store.  
  
She hadn't meant to bring herself there, exactly. It was the only store she could remember being in clearly, and Ryoko hadn't planned where she was going when she left, she just...went.  
  
And here she was. By herself. Nothing the space pirate wasn't used to. She had roamed the stars all alone for years, with only law enforces and bounty hunters on her heels to keep her company. She was no stranger to solitude.  
  
Still, it was strange having left the others the way she did. Angry.  
  
Ryoko sighed softly, and glanced around the small room, over-crowded with racks of wine and sake, wondering briefly if anyone had witnessed her sudden appearance. Judging by the stunned, disbelieving look of the cashier, she'd been spotted.  
  
The demon walked over to the counter, grabbed a rice ball, paid for it with the change she had grabbed off Noboyuki's counter, and left. She didn't have enough money for sake, and she didn't want to steal it. Normally, Ryoko wouldn't have considered taking one little bottle an actual theft. It was nothing compared to her old, adrenaline fueled life. But she was not in a playful mood, and she was upset over the revelation that, even in what she now considered to be her home, she was still considered a thief.  
  
As Ryoko walked down the streets, munching on her snack, she lifted her face up to the sky. She loved to feel the sun's rays on her skin.  
  
It was so nice, she reflected, to be able to walk out in public and not have to hide her face in shadows, or disguises. It was wonderful to be just another face in the crowd, to be able to enjoy freedom- not just the freedom of not being behind bars, but not worrying about being thrown into a new cage at any moment, either.  
  
Ryoko caught her reflection in a mirror.  
  
Of course, being completely free had it's costs.  
  
She was dull now, it seemed- at least, to her. Her hair had taken on a more bluish blue of earth-like tones, not the icy color of the Tsiru sea, as it had once been. Her eyes were a pleasant, warm amber. Not the fiery golden orbs that could invoke terror with a well placed fork of an eyebrow. They no longer conveyed the devilish excitement she had once brought about with a mere wink. They no longer held that impish pleasure for mischief and mayhem...  
  
No. Things were better now. She knew it! Her features and colors and spirit may not be as sharp as they were when she lived her life of piracy, but they were no longer twisted in fear! Her face no longer convulsed with pain, and her eyes, whatever color they may be, no longer held that half- mad look of panic when she knew, just knew her luck had run out this time...  
  
Ryoko shook her head, clearing her mind of that unpleasant train of thought. She finished the rest of her rice ball, and threw the wrapper in the trash.  
  
There was nothing wrong with being domesticated. Even though all of her old friends would laugh until they damn well cried if they saw her now.  
  
Her lips bowed almost imperceptably, one side curling up into a strange smirk as she remembered her old comrades.  
  
Let them say what they would about space pirates. They were fiercely loyal to one another. Each and every one of her old friends would die for her, if the need arose, and she would have done the same for them.  
  
She wondered where they were now, her old partners, her old family...  
  
The beautiful demon felt a pang of guilt as she realised just how far she had gone from her old life, and had seperated herself from her friends in the same breath. They probably thought she was dead, for all they knew. But she had pushed them away from her just as far as she pushed away her nightmarish memories of nights spent on the run, of sleeping in cold alleys, of hurting others and being hurt...  
  
Once again, Ryoko stopped her mind from running away from her, and back into the arms of the vicious, pirate princess that still lived among the stars, and always would, in some measure. It was her life, suspended in the sable backdrop of midnight. Each twinkling star represented a memory, an adventure, a nightmare, a dream. She would never be able to tear herself away from her past, never in a million years. And she didn't want to. It was her! It was half of her soul. Without all of it, the good and the bad, she just wouldn't be Ryoko.  
  
She sighed again, softly, and sat down on a bench. But she was a different Ryoko now.  
  
No, not different. Changed.  
  
She had changed so much, and she was still getting to know all the different voices and faces and moods of this person she was changing into. It was very hard.  
  
"And Tenchi is not making things any easier!" Ryoko thought bitterly. How would she ever learn to fit with this change, if Tenchi kept speaking to the old pirate? Didn't he get it? *She* was not here! The pirate was way up there, in the stars. She would never want to stay down here on earth, never sat and eaten a quite dinner with family, hell, would never have *paid* for a rice snack and *left* a liqour store completely untouched!  
  
She uttered a soft growl of frustration. Her anger for Tenchi, which she had kept hidden until today, was a cousin to her love for him. She wouldn't be able to let it go until he addressed her as Ryoko of Earth. Until he treated her with as much respect as he did to Ayeka of Jurai. Until he stopped treating her as roughly as Ryoko the Space Pirate needed to be handled.  
  
Because she simply was not that person any longer... 


End file.
